Does the tenant have a claim?

claimornot

I wont say whether I am posting for the tenant or landlord, just trying to find out which side the law would favour.

Tenant has been renting a property and in May last year boiler stopped working. LL arranged for engineer to come out but they had problems sorting it out and it took nearly 3 months for it to finally get sorted (was the boiler manufacturer)

LL paid tenant 'goodwill gesture of £200.

Tenant wanted to put in compensation claim for inconvenience, having to travel to have a bath for her and son (doesnt drive so used buses). Also extra expense for electric as having to use kettles when at home to fill up bath when using bath at home.

LL has tried to claim compensation through manufacturer but they are not willng to do anything.

Arguments for LL - has paid £200, contacted to try and initiate a claim with boiler manufacturer on behalf of tenant

Arguments for tenant - had no heating or hot water for about 10 weeks.
Had to travel for a bath or heat up kettles
Needed heating despite it being summer as was ill (pneumonia)

If the tenant was to claim for further compensation was pursued, realistically, who do you think may win?

theartfullodger

Why has T left it this long to go after compo??

LL has clearly been negligent in sorting problem out. Tenant's claim (if any) is against Landlord. Landlord can then try claiming against maintainer/manufacturer, but LL must provide (with reasonable time to fix) heating etc.

I would advise T to write a "letter before action" requesting compo. I would advise LL to offer 1/2 of whatever T asked for if not daft, but ultimately unless LL agreed to (say) travel costs T's claim this late on (May last year??) I fear is very weak.

Moral. Get it in writing, early (both T &LL) : Sort things promptly. Try to avoid compo arguements , preferring to fix things first by sensible negotiation early.

Sounds like both T & LL have not been sensible,,,

Which side would law favour?? Depends on the Judge, on the day,and how good each case was argued..

Wee_Willy_Harris

On the basis of the info given, the landlord would appear to have done everything he could reasonably be expected to in order to mitigate the issue. There is no indication of negligence on his part in your post. So we are left with evidencing the cost to the tenant. That will mean providing documentation to show the amount paid in bus fares, extra energy useage etc. But this will be offset against the £200 already paid and the usual cost of running the boiler.

claimornot

In response, tenant has been trying to claim and LL has been pushing for claim through boiler company but has now just been told they are not willing to take the claim any further. Now tenant knows they are unable to get compensation from boiler company, are looking to see if landlord would be liable.

All bus receipts proving costs of travel for the period in question were in a bag that was stolen so not available for proof so I think the claim is more for 'hardship' and inconvenience

harrythefurrysquid

As you probably know, maintaining heating and hot water is a legal obligation under S.11 LTA 1985.

3 months sounds like a very long time to be in breach of this obligation, regardless of the difficulties with the particular equipment. An alternate means of heating water should have been provided, the boiler replaced, or alternate accommodation provided. The tenant could (and perhaps should) have got the Environmental Health department from the local council involved.

The tenant would be entitled to sue for damages, the idea being to put them back in the position they would have been in had there been no breach. This might reasonably include extra costs incurred (such as travel, or use of expensive electric heating). In principle, the tenant could move out temporarily into a B&B until the problem is rectified, and sue to recover the cost. Compensation for inconvenience might be allowable.

I think the limit for damages on the small claims track is £1000.

Personally, £200 sounds like very little considering the duration of the problem. If I were the tenant, I'd be looking for half rent.

(IANAL - the above may be partly or completely wrong, etc)

junglejim2

You say it took 3 months for the boiler prob to finally get sorted.
Was the boiler not working at all during the 3 months?

theartfullodger

claimornot wrote: »

I.......... tenant has been trying to claim and LL has been pushing for claim through boiler company but has now just been told they are not willing to take the claim any further. ...........

Tenant has claim on Landlord only: It would be up to the LL to then claim in boiler company if he wanted to.

System

harrythefurrysquid wrote: »

As you probably know, maintaining heating and hot water is a legal obligation under S.11 LTA 1985.

However as a temporary measure it would not need to be capable of supplying water for a bath or shower. As long as there were reasonable provisions made for hot water (could be something like a baby Burco) and heating (e.g. calor gas heater) then the LLs obligations are satisfied.

However this info has not yet been made available in this thread.

claimornot

The only provisions that were made were additional kettles to boil water, no heaters.

Rent is paid by LHA so would tenant be able to reclaim rent?

Thanks

may_fair

If T's claim for damages for disrepair exceeds £1,000 then T would need to seek legal advice, because disrepair claims over £1,000 are not allocated to the small claims track. There is also a housing disrepair protocol to follow prior to claim.

Claims not allocated to small claims attract much higher court fees (e.g. over £1,000) and parties are exposed to the other party's legal costs. Disrepair claims are more complex than straightforward money claims. Therefore, legal advice/hiring legal representation is essential.

In assessing the amount to claim in damages, a layperson isn't qualified to make this assessment. It's not enough to 'feel' or 'think' that £x is 'fair' damages; the claimant will need to justify the figure claimed.

The LL's defence will be assisted by the fact that he, apparently, acted promptly to deal with the reported disrepair, and reasonably offered a sum in 'compensation'.

There is no clear answer and I think the maximum T could hope to be awarded is about 25-50% of rent for a 10 week period.

real1314

Lack of heating from may onwards for 3 months through to end of July is unlikely to present any health risk. Winter would be different.
Lack of hot water for washing hands might, however a kettle does remove this risk.

This leaves inconvenience in having to travel elsewhere for washing/bathing.

LL has paid approx £15 per week to cover this, which would buy a weekly bus pass in most areas wouldn't it?